Boo-yeah! 'Green Lantern' coming to theaters next year

If done right, this should be one of the coolest cinematic moments when Hal Jordan powers up his ring when Warner Bros. brings "Green Lantern" to the big screen Dec. 17, 2010.

The near Christmas Day release date is a good decision; it should bring in A LOT of business and will avoid the beginning-to-be-overcrowded summer 2010 season ("Thor" in July and another WB/DC Comics product, "Jonah Hex").

Let's address "Jonah Hex" first.

He's not one of my favorite character, much less one of DC's most memorable, so I thought that was a thinking-out-of-the-box decision to make into a film. Josh Brolin as Hex was one of those "meh" casting decisions, although I hear he's been nothing short of fantastic in "W." and "Milk."

THEN when I heard John Malkovich was joining, my interest in the western really started to increase. Coming Soon reported about two weeks ago that "Malkovich will play Turnbull, a wealthy Southern plantation owner whose son is killed by Union soldiers during the Civil War. He blames Hex, a former confederate soldier-turned-hardened bounty hunter and gunslinger." Sweet!

Given the grittiness he brought to 007 in "Casino Royale" and an out-and-out great adventure in "GoldenEye," Campbell should just knock Green Lantern out of the park. I've been pushing for WB to "get the ball rolling quite a bit faster" with the GL film — most recently in my Dec. 11 comic book column — so I'm tickled to know the studio FINALLY announced a release date.